BPCL is investing nearly $18 billion in the petrochemical and gas business

Indian Oil Refining and Marketing Company Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) plans to invest 1.4 trillion rupees ($17.65 billion) in petrochemicals, city gas and clean energy businesses in the next five years, a new agency Press Trust of India (PTI), reported.

The investment is part of the firm’s efforts to develop its non-fuel business.

BPCL Chairman and Managing Director Arun Kumar Singh, according to PTI’s latest annual report, said the company is “revising its strategies to capitalize on new opportunities while reducing risks”.

Singh said: “The company has strengthened plans to diversify and expand related and alternative businesses to generate additional revenue streams and hedge against any possible future downturn in the liquid fossil fuel business.”

In the petrochemical industry, the firm has identified two new petrochemical projects integrated into the refinery.

These include a 1.2 million tonne per annum (MTPA) ethylene cracker at the Bina refinery located in the Bina Etava district of Madhya Pradesh and a 0.4 Mtpa polypropylene plant at the refinery Kochi in the Indian state of Kerala, the report said. .

BPCL, which owns 20,217 of the country’s 83,685 petrol stations, is also looking at providing electric vehicle (EV) charging as well as future fuels such as hydrogen.

“Conscious of the need to open up to the changing times, we aim to transform our gas stations into energy stations where all forms of energy solutions for mobility such as petrol, diesel, natural gas, electric vehicle solutions, flexible fuel. and eventually hydrogen will be available,” Singh noted.

With the intention of expanding its field of natural gas, the firm actively participates in tender rounds and obtains licenses for the retail sale of city gas.

Together with its joint ventures, BPCL holds licenses to retail LNG for vehicles and piped natural gas to households and industries in 50 geographical areas.

BPCL accounts for nearly 14% of the country’s oil refining capacity of 251.2 million tonnes and has identified six strategic areas as the foundations for future growth and sustainable development.

These include petrochemicals, gas, renewable energy, new businesses (consumer retail), e-mobility and advanced manufacturing.

Singh added, “The company has developed a detailed roadmap for each of these strategic areas and has planned capital expenditure of around Rs 1.4 lakh crore over the next five years.”